Obama’s brother-in-law to head Smithsonian program

HONOLULU (AP) — President Barack Obama’s brother-in-law, Konrad Ng, will serve as acting director of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program this summer.

The University of Hawaii at Manoa Academy for Creative Media announced that Ng, an assistant professor and a scholar of Asian American cinema and digital media, will manage the Asia Pacific American Program while the Smithsonian searches for a permanent director.

Ng is married to Maya Soetoro-Ng, the president’s sister.

Ng was a scholar-in-residence at the program last fall.

Academy for Creative Media chairman Tom Brislin said in the June 28 announcement that the Smithsonian believed Ng’s experience in cultural organizations would help develop the program. ♦